Steve Chorba has been named interim head coach, Wallenberg said. Chorba has been an assistant
coach at Ohio State since July 2013, and previously served as head cheerleading coach at Illinois
State University.

***

>> A perfect complement to Michigan Week: our Ohio State football chat with
The Dispatch's Rob Oller, noon today at
dispatch.com/osuchat.

***

OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith told the cheerleading team of Buchman’s dismissal last night,
including Cody Ellis, who had made the initial complaints against one of the assistant coaches.

Buchman had removed Ellis, a fifth-year senior, from the squad in August, after he complained
last school year that assistant coach Eddie Hollins had sent him sexually explicit text messages,
said John C. Camillus, an attorney representing Cody Ellis.

Among the texts: an offer to replace Ellis’ boyfriend in a sex act.

Following an investigation, Ohio State fired Hollins, as well as assistant coach Dana Bumbrey, a
male assistant coach who was accused of making sexual jokes and inappropriate comments to female
cheerleaders. At that time, they also sent Buchman to a sexual-harassment seminar.

Last night, Buchman, who earned $42,578 a year as head coach, didn’t return calls for comment.
Hollins and Bumbrey also have never discussed the situation.

Given OSU’s acknowledgement of the misconduct, Camillus said he hopes that Smith will now “see
fit to put Cody back on the cheerleading team and reinstate all his benefits, including his
scholarship.”

“From what I know from Cody and after reviewing the investigation, the culture of this
cheerleading program struck me as wildly dysfunctional and horribly, sexually inappropriate,”
Camillus said.

The assistant coaches had said that the allegations were just playful, and that sexual joking
among coaches and team members was common.

Because of student privacy laws, the university can’t comment on the reason why Ellis was
removed, said Ohio State spokesman Gary Lewis.

Given the “rampant culture of widespread sexual misconduct” reported this spring, Camillus said
it leaves little doubt that Buchman was aware of problems.

“If she didn’t foster it, she at least didn’t do anything to stop it,” he said.